Thanks MDM. Atomic I know how you feel as bass wood can be chippy, pulpy- rotten in places, and I can never keep it from looking "fuzzy" but it is lightweight, holds detail a lot better than the cedar I usually use and accepts any kind of paint you want to throw on it. My next project is a big piece of arborvitae which I have no clue about but should be fun.

Very good MDM, when I said "should be fun" I had already clogged my chain saw and grinder with a gummy pitch but I will try a few thru-cuts and see what happens.
I finished "Nelson" with acrylic and clear poly.
Also painted "Lauderdale" with a red dye and clear coat.
And did some detailing and added the hand for tikiskips sign.

Looks a lot like eucalyptus (which is also harder than a rock. If you like carving rocks I'll bring you a chunk of eucalyptus to Tiki Caliente )

PS - if you start getting a lot of orders from Puertocitos Mexico for tikis it's because I wore your Frog Island Tiki shirt and did some advertising down there. Oh wait, they have no internet or phone service to place orders from. Also no power or running water and a population of about 50 people

H10, looking forward to the visit also, amate was hoping someone would like the color added to Nelson, thanks McTiki , here's a shot of my elaborate tool set-All straight, easy to sharpen chisels and a few invaluable knives, and I probably possess more tenacity than patience.
Yes Maddog, that's a part of a honkin' piece of arborvitae tractored over by my neighbor and I would love a chunk of eucalyptus if you would haul it to Palm Springs for me! I will alert my pals on the coast to be on the look- out for a tiki order stuffed inside a tequila bottle.

Looks great Cy!
"Lauderdale" is really cool.
But you are holding out on us as your blog site has more
stuff you just posted.
The one on your blog site I'll call it moss head is very cool.
Do you do something to get them to start growing stuff on them?
Makes em look like Indy Jones just found them.
Or should I say Sven just found them.
Go to the blog site folks, nice stuff there as well.

Like I told you skip, I should hire you for my PR guy. Even though it seems I've been updating here a lot lately, I always update the blog once a week. The moss is a natural effect of 40 inches of annual rainfall and living in the woods but I'm fairly certain I saw a recipe on MadDog Mike's thread to make moss grow. Thanks very much Willcarve but I still have a ways to go to match your finishing skills!